Policy analysis is a profession that brings systematic thinking and social scientific evidence to bear on substantive problems, but policymakers seldom defer to expert judgments. Many see policy analysis as material to be deployed selectively and strategically in political battles fought on other terms. To be effective, policy specialists must understand the political environments in which they operate, including the participants who shape policy within particular domains; the ways in which they perceive problems and solutions; the interests and ideologies likely to govern their actions; the strategies they use; and the institutional arrangements and processes that shape their behavior and constrain their decisions. The goal of the core politics course is to help you approach such matters more critically and strategically, especially as you take on new jobs in an upwardly mobile career. Every section of the course emphasizes a different level of governance: international, comparative, or national/subnational
